We are like this only!

With law school, come a million deadlines which are supposed to be met. Deadlines for projects, moot courts, the works. I dont really mind deadlines too much since most of the times i hear them flying past me. But whats pissing off is a nagging feeling at the back of the mind when its approaching accompanied with the voice of the conscience telling you to 'get serious in life'. Anyway, what i was intending to talk about is this project that i'm working on currently (the deadline is day after tomorrow) which is ' the effect of corruption on good governance'. Its kinda interesting. India is placed high up the order with respect to corruption levels globally. The causes of corruption as stated in various reports are lack of social stigma, lack of respect for the law, lack of effective detterance, inadequate remuneration etc. I've been reading about all these studies and statistics and all. Its all unfortunate since in a strange sorta way it makes sense. Its almost like the fees of the govt servants was fixed keeping in mind the presumption that they were going to resort to under-the-table practices. I'm in no way saying that cheating or dishonesty is justified cos they dont get paid handsomely. But the fact remains that the base of any need hierarchy is the physiological needs(food,clothing,shelter) and the self-realisation needs(self-esteem,pride,respect) come way later. With the inflation and the kind of numbed existence that most people lead, atleast when it comes to respect for the nation, its not surprising that not once do they question themselves before resorting to something corrupt. Again, i'm not implying that all people are corrupt. I know for a fact that a major chunk has its heart and values at the right place and they have it in them to to say no.
All this research on corruption reminded me of something that i read in 'Shantaram'. One of the characters- Didier Levy- who's a major smartass with some amazing one liners- said that ' There's a difference between the dishonest bribe and the honest bribe. The dishonest bribe is the same in every country, but the honest bribe is india's alone.' Inspite of how much i hate the way in which every public sector organisation is infested with corrupt practices, how a layman is exploited and harrased for every work from getting a phone connection to filing of an FIR for a crime, i cant overlook the truth and beauty in the above mentioned quote. Its the spirit of this huge, crazy, beautiful country we live in. Its a place which does not need a signed stamp paper for a person to honour the contract. A person's word is as strong as any stamp paper. Major deals of buying and selling land can still happen simply by word of mouth in the villages. When u pay the line man 50 rupees, you know for a fact that he'll get you a connection, just cos he told you so.